Vong Visuals

Web Series Announcement

2012-01-13T15:42:00.002-07:00

Made the announcement for the new web series MOONSHINE over on it's own blog, check it out.

Goodbye 2011... Hello 2012...

2011-12-31T21:42:00.007-07:00

As 2011 ends, I look back over the year and think that it could have been worse. Things started out on a high note, with getting a freelance graphics job that quickly ended. Then I started helping a friend shoot weddings for his video production business, which moved me over to helping same friend on a couple of corporate jobs in which I helped shoot and edit video, as well as create 3D graphics logos for the clientele. In September I was working with my old boss again doing DVDs and editing video presentations for one of his clients. Work that picked up again in November and that is on a continuing basis into the new year.

Around March, I was able to take care of my dental issues, which greatly improved my health. All in time to see my one Sister-In-Law's get married to her second husband. In August when school started, my son who turns 10 tomorrow was hit by a car while riding his bike. Luckily he was not seriously injured and just had to wear a splint and use crutches for a couple of weeks.

September, my brother came to visit from Washington State. First time we had seen him since our Father died in 2008. We didn't get to do everything we wanted, but we did pull the kids from classes so that we could all go to the zoo. The day I took him to the airport, I was heading home and my van broke down on the freeway. It still isn't fixed.

October 17th, my wife and I celebrated our 13th Wedding Anniversary. We decided we would invite our daughter, our oldest niece and their boyfriends to join us at a local amusement park. While on the way to the park, we had a tire blowout on the freeway and no spare (borrowed van). Spent 2 hours waiting for someone to bring us a spare on a rim that didn't fit right. 30 minutes later, after finding a tire shop to change rims and getting the "spare" back on the vehicle, we were enjoying ourselves. It was a fun time, and I still need to make copies of the pictures for everyone!

Halloween was a little different this year as we didn't have the van to take the kids to Grandma's house to go Trick 'r Treating around her neighborhood. So we went over to the Church and did their Trunk 'r Treat program, then I came home and my wife took the kids and went to another Church for their Trunk 'r' Treat program and then let the kids hit a few houses on the way home for some good old Trick 'r Treating. The older 3 kids hitched rides with Aunts to Grandma's house so they could go out with their cousins and then brought home some of Grandma's Halloween Chili that she makes every year.

Thanksgiving was the usual, seeing as how we always have it at our house, since we have the biggest house out of all my wife's family.

Christmas came and people that we know thought that it might not be a very good Christmas for us, but my wife had been planning since August, so Christmas was better than it was last year. Christmas dinner was the usual, since... See Thanksgiving. I ended Christmas day by watching the Doctor Who Christmas Special by myself. My wife went to bed somewhat early, because she had to be to work early the next morning. The kids went downstairs to watch the movies that Santa had brought them.

Heading into the new year, I'm making plans for a couple of things. One of the biggest things I'm planning is the release of a series of short animated films or an animated webseries. I've mentioned this plan before, here on the blog, and will be making an official announcement within the first 2 weeks of the year. If I decide to go the short film route, then I'm also planning to work on a webcomic/graphic novel to fill in some stories that I want to tell. If I go the webseries route, I might just turn those stories into episodes for the series. I'm still torn on which way to go. All of these plans are in addition to the continuation of the freelance stuff I'll be working on. Maybe even adding more freelance work to my schedule if I need the money.

Overall, 2011 has been a pretty good year. Here's hoping that 2012 is an even better year!

Happy New Year, Everyone!!!!!

Lightwave 11... My precious...

2011-12-17T17:53:00.000-07:00

Well, I finally got paid by a client and so I purchased LW11 today. Looking forward to diving into all it's instanced goodness!

The DVDs They Haunt Me...

2011-12-11T19:05:00.001-07:00

Wow... What a month it has been. On top of Thanksgiving here in the USA and Christmas coming up, I was given 3 new DVD jobs to work on, as well as a couple of other clients projects.

Let's go back a bit though... Remember those DVDs from the beginning of September? (link here) After turning in the fixed DVDs, I thought I was finished them. Turns out they needed to add an whole new language subtitle to all 3 DVDs. Why they couldn't have done it back when I was authoring the originals, I will never know. So, I got to go through and re-author the discs. I saw this as kind of a good thing in some regards. It gave me the chance to go back and clean up the menus a little and fix some things that bothered me about the original authoring. Now the menu's are cleaner with the highlighted selection and the flow of the disc layout in DVD Studio Pro is much more readable.

The second DVD project was a straight forward, replace footage with new footage and remove certain people from the video entirely, then re-author the disc using a new menu. Simple, straight forward, no issues.

The third and final DVD project was supposed to be pretty simple as well, but it turned out not to be so simple... Client wanted video from the 3 DVD set inserted into a similar video for a different region. However, the video itself is of a different length, and wouldn't fit either the subtitled track, nor the voice over track. Unfortunately, the only way to move forward with this would be to use the video from the 3 DVD set and then redo the entire subtitles and voice over work.

The other client work was straight forward video editing and After Effects work. Nothing overly spectacular about it.

Right now, the only other client work that's on the horizon is set for late January or early February. So maybe I'll be able to work on some of my own stuff now!

Lightwave 11

2011-11-11T00:01:00.005-07:00

Tonight Newtek officially announced Lightwave 11 at their VFX Minds Event.

While the event was very nice and I enjoyed listening to some of the guys whose work I have admired for years, the night was really about the new version of Lightwave.

Lightwave 11 has a bunch of new feature built in that I've been wanting for years. Instancing, Bullet Hard Body Dynamics, Fracture tool in Modeler and much more. Check out the features list here.

While there is a vocal bunch on the Newtek forums complaining about this release and having to pay for stuff that was supposed to be in Core before it was dropped, I think that this release is pretty solid. At least as solid as any release from Newtek can be. Do the vocal one's have a point about having to pay for stuff that was promised to them in a prior release? Yes, they do. However, if you got in on the "ground level" of the Core incident, then you paid your upgrade fee almost 3 years ago for the v10.x release. I'm more than willing to pay out again for an upgrade. It could be worse, we could be paying every year for an upgrade/maintenance fee like some other companies. Of course we might end up paying for yearly upgrades now that Newtek seems to have steered the Lightwave ship back on course.

In the end, I will be upgrading to the new Lightwave 11, and look forward to using it. I can't wait to dig into some of the Bullet Physics stuff and make things explode. I just need to wait for my clients to pay me. Back to the grind.

FTC Disclosure - I was not paid by Newtek or any representative of Newtek for this post; I received no special consideration from Newtek; no material connection exists between Newtek and myself. I do however use Lightwave software in my day to day business operations, bought on the open market with my own money.

Canon Cinema EOS C300

2011-11-03T21:02:00.003-07:00

Wow. From the moment I saw this camera, I wanted it based on looks alone. Now, after finding out more about it, I still want it, but alas it's price point places it outside of my hands.

Canon seems to be going after the Sony F3 market with this camera. At a list price of $20,000 I think they've missed it. If they had made this camera available at a price point of say $8,000 - $10,000 then they would have had a solid winner. At this time I could take that $20,000 and get an F3 with 3 PL mount lenses as well as an NEX-FS100 for B-Cam material.

So, until I win the lottery or someone decides to just drop $25,000 in my lap, I get to dream about the C300. At least I have an FS100 to keep me company on these long cold winter shoots.

Here's a pic of the C300 for you to drool over as well.

Canon EOS c300...

2011-11-03T15:21:00.000-07:00

OMG!!!!!!! I'll have more later, but I want this camera!!!!

Halloween 2011 and more...

2011-11-01T12:40:00.000-07:00

Well, Halloween 2011 is over. Kids had a blast. I'll be eating the candy they don't want for the next 4 months (becoming 6 after the Christmas candy).

In other news, I've decided to start working on a new animated series. I'm currently debating over whether I want to make it a series of short films (Trilogy or Quadrilogy) or if I want to make it a web series. Either way it's going to be a lot of work. I've already started on the script and have been doing research work on a style I want to go with. I've also been looking at indie animated films and web series, as well as reading any Behind The Scenes blogs that the creators of such films/series have posted to see what they've experienced.

As I get further along, I'll update this blog with info and post a link here to the blog that I'll be starting for the BTS on my own project.

Classified Update...

2011-10-21T00:12:00.002-07:00

Wow. Fun day shooting more scenes and pickups for Barlow's film. Will post some photo's tomorrow (later today since it is after 1am).

Classified...

2011-10-20T14:49:00.001-07:00

Out helping my friend Barlow finish up shots for his short film CLASSIFIED. Should be fun. I'll update later tonight once we're finished.

Blog Updated

2011-10-14T15:34:00.004-07:00

Okay, I updated the blog to one of the newer themes. I like it a lot more than the old theme. If you come across anything not working properly, let me know.

You'll also notice that some of the posts from another blog site of mine have started to show up. They show under the first revival post.

Revivification...

2011-10-07T13:34:00.001-07:00

So I've been thinking about reviving this blog as was apparent by the previous post.

This blog has been around since December 2005 and hasn't been used to its full potential.

It's time to change that. I'm starting to focus more on my videography and film making in general, so I should be posting more.

Over the next several days I'll be moving posts from another blog over to this one and removing posts from this blog that I feel are not relevant to what this blog is about. I'm also planning on changing the design of the blog.

So get ready for change and a Revivification (yes I made that word up, I think) of Vong Visuals.

Revival...

2011-09-29T23:11:00.002-07:00

I think it's about time to revive this blog.

Update!!

2011-09-06T18:33:00.000-07:00

Okay, so it seems that the reason the DVD’s weren’t working properly is because when you use DVD Studio Pro’s Story feature and you need subtitles, you are supposed to link the subtitle tracks to the menu items you want the story to use. Does that make sense? I don’t care, I know how to fix the issue now, and the issue is fixed!

Of course, I couldn’t find that info online UNTIL AFTER getting the fix from my buddy Chris Smith (in a round a bout way). Thanks Chris!

Argh!!! DVD’s…

2011-09-06T15:54:00.000-07:00

So I burned the DVD’s and they seemed to play fine here. Take them to my client’s client this morning @ 9am. I’m thinking everything’s just fine when I get a call from my client saying that the DVD’s don’t work and they seem broken. Now trying to figure out what the hell happened. So frustrating when everything seems fine, but it’s not.

Laboring on Labor Day (Itself)

2011-09-05T10:26:00.000-07:00

Here I am, working away on Labor Day. What better way to spend it than by laboring. Back to work!

Laboring on Labor Day Weekend

2011-09-02T15:28:00.000-07:00

So, I picked up a couple of gigs for this weekend. Figured since the wife was working, I may as well too.

Gig 1 : Finish creating and burning the DVD’s for a client. My client was supposed to have them finished today for his client, but issues came up and he’s going out of town so he won’t be able to get them finished. New goal is to have them ready by Tuesday.

Gig 2 : Same client of mine, was asked to do a video for a company whose founder will be talking at their national convention on September 14. Got all the assets he had and quickly discussed the project. Seems pretty straight forward. It’s due Tuesday morning as well.

Money is money, and I could certainly use the money right now. Away to work I go…

idc (2011)

2011-08-25T15:35:00.003-07:00

Shot this short on the 4th of July this year and had an edit online for friends/relatives to see by the 6th of July. Finally got around to finishing it up in early August and posted for everyone to see.

All things come to a head...

2008-10-07T13:11:00.003-07:00

Been working on some modeling lately. Here's the head I'm currently working on...

Ch...Ch...Ch...Changes....

2007-09-14T22:30:00.000-07:00

Wow! Quite a while since I updated this puppy. Lot's has been going on... No, we're still not finished with that short! The director got stuck with "real" work, so he hasn't been able to get the darn thing finished. So much for shooting for that end of August deadline. We were, however, able to get a short little 1 min. 15 sec. opening clip worked on for a showing at the Tower Theater (Downtown Salt Lake City, Utah). Supposedly it went over very well, I was unable to attend, so I gotta take people's word.

I start shooting a couple of shorts tomorrow. The first is for the DVXUser.com HallowsFest. That's all I can say. I'm not even posting to say that I'm joining, until I've got some footage shot. The second short will be another Halloween based film.

Sony has been showing off their XDCAM EX1 camera. This is going to be a sweet addition to the already well known Panasonic HVX200. Both camera's record to memory sticks, for a tapeless workflow. Google "Sony XDCAM EX" for more information.

Sony has also released v8 of the popular Vegas NLE. Now sporting a new name "Vegas Pro 8", this looks to be a pretty decent release. I've got the demo, and will provide more info once I can get around to testing it out.

Well, it's back to the grind....

...more movie making...

2007-05-25T22:48:00.001-07:00

So we were supposed to be finished, fin, complete, done and over with at this point in time with actual shooting of this short film entitled BIRDS OF PREY. However, weather and schedules just didn't mix well together. We were going to get together last Tuesday (5/22/07) and shoot the final fight sequence. Well, things didn't work out for the director. Then it was pushed to yesterday (5/24/07) and the weather kicked up, as well as one of the lead's injured her wrist while longboarding. So, we're currently scheduled for a Tuesday, May 29, 2007 shoot day. Then the only things left, will be pick-up shots that the director can do. I've already started on moving into the VFX portion of my duties for this short. We've got some 3D elements that needed to be created, so modeling has commenced. I've also been working on different muzzle flash elements to make roto'ing them in much easier. Overall, I'm pretty happy with the way things are going right now.

In other news, I've started writing a couple of stories down that have been floating through my grey matter lately. A couple of these stories would make for some wonderful animated movies. I know that one would be a feature length film, so I've thought about splitting it up into a trilogy of shorts. Who knows, maybe it'll happen. I wanna focus on getting several more short live action films out the door before committing to anything strictly animated. Animated is gonna take some time, even though I do have several people interested in helping out.

So, enjoy your weekend, I'm going to be working on VFX stuff, if I get the urge, I'll see about posting some stuff up here!

Movie making.....

2007-05-13T18:37:00.000-07:00

So around a month ago I was trying to make a poster for my friend's short film that he was preparing to shoot. Well, for the past week, we've been in production mode. Monday was used to shoot some footage for use later on in the film. That seemed to go off without a hitch. Then starting Thursday, May 10th, 2007 we started shooting. We had 2 full days of shooting, and then we've got a break until Tuesday, May 15th.

2007-04-14T12:43:00.000-07:00

Early poster for a friend's movie.

Update...

2007-02-22T16:04:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I think I might have a handle on images. Don't know where I'm going to post my animations and video stuff yet.

Looks like my previous hosting solution for video/animations is now dead. The entire site is gone. Only getting a 404 now, and no one can get hold of the owner! I know he's busy, but it would have been nice to have heard what was going on. So, at least you'll be able to see my lovely images until I can get another place for big stuff.

No images

2007-02-06T15:07:00.000-07:00

Ok, looks like something has happened to my hosting service, and images are currently down. Not sure how long they'll be gone for.

**EDIT** Just found out that it looks like the server ran out of bandwidth. Not sure how that happened, but it should be worked out soon. I hope!

Drawing and 3D...

2007-02-06T14:57:00.000-07:00

Most people know that to get around in 3D you need to be able to draw. While this isn't entirely true, being able to draw does give you an understanding of form and function. Which then makes 3D that much easier for you.

So, I was surfing around while waiting on a render to finish, and came across this blog.

Check it out, and draw damnit, draw!!!!

Working hard....

2007-01-27T00:34:00.000-07:00

So, I've been working hard during the first month of the year, and it wasn't on film related stuff!!!! I offered my 3D modeling services to my friend Chris, since the company he works for had him needing to model a low poly version of the Forbidden City in China. If Chris had to do this all by himself, on top of his other duties at work, low poly would have meant boxes trying to fake being buildings. While my model was almost exactly boxes trying to be buildings, there was enough shape to actually fake it more than what Chris would have been able to do (in the time alloted), and he's told me as such. So, this not only gave me an in to this company (his boss loved the model), it also saw me getting a paycheck for 3D for the first time in almost 8 years. It was fun modeling again, and I'm looking forward to doing another project for these guys.

Here's a render of the model, with no textures...

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!!!

2007-01-01T15:49:00.000-07:00

As the old year passed, I was busy working on fixing a disc image that wasn't wanting to burn correctly, while chatting with my friends in Louisiana. My wife mentioned to me the other day that what ever you are doing when the New Year starts, is what you will be doing for the entire year... God I hope not!!! That image was a pain in the rear!!

So, the New Year starts, my one son is a year older, and I'm still trying to get off my butt and finish a project. This _WILL_ be the year it will happen. I'm planning on making at least several shorts this year and hopefully start on a feature project. The past year I did get involved in several projects, which are still being worked on. Even started a couple myself that are still ongoing. Post work can be a bitch!

So, have yourself a safe and happy New Year! Happy Birthday Cole! See you all around!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

2006-12-25T00:58:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to say Merry Christmas to everyone who reads or at least glances at this blog. Here's hoping to get what you want, even if it is just Peace on Earth, and Goodwill toward Man.

Alas poor Gloria...

2006-12-05T17:57:00.000-07:00

So, here we are at the beginning of December. I've been busy, pissed off, upset, and a crap load of other stuff for a while. On November 15, 2006, I found out that my Mother had passed away on October 5, 2006. No one had bothered to contact me, even though a close friend of the family had given the social worker from the care center my Mom was in, my phone number. There's still somethings that I won't talk about, nor have I read the poem/story that my wife wrote about my Mom. Too painful I guess. Never having the chance to properly say goodbye. So, yeah, I think I've got a pretty damn good reason to be pissed.

That little VFX based short film never happened. Trying to find the right people and getting everything together just wasn't meant to be. Made more progress on my friend's short film, than I did on mine. At least we got around to actually shooting some material! :) Anyways, as it stands right now, another friend, Chris Smith, and myself are currently slaving away on our CGTalk.com Challenge. We're working on a movie trailer for the book EON. We've got until January 15, 2007, so this one should be doable, especially since the maximum length can only be 90 seconds. I'll post some stuff here when we get around to having material ready to show. More to come later...

This blog is dedicated to Mom:

Gloria Colleen Swensen Rhoads - Born May 1, 1943 - Died October 5, 2006 - Rest In Peace.

It's over.... Let it begin!

2006-09-16T13:37:00.000-07:00

Well, the project that George and I were working on fell through. He got busy at his day job, and I got busy working on my own stuff. We still want to finish the project, but for now, it's been placed on the back burner.

I do however, have a new short film that I'm working on, and it will contain some VFX elements. It's a horror based short, so there should be some cool stuff in it. Hopefully, this new short will be finished in time for the Horror Fest that I want to enter it into on October 11th. I'm planning on keeping this site updated a little more often now. I guess we'll see! :)

Back to the Beginning...

2006-04-12T11:57:00.000-07:00

Ok, so this "test" is shaping up a little more. Everytime I think I'm going to get a chance to work on this, something always comes up, and I get taken away. I know the same has been happening to George. But we are still committed to this project, and I'm now slowly getting back on track.

I'm starting over on the story, and George is still working on the design of the creature.

Look for more updates soon.

Contrary to popular rumours on the net...

2006-01-24T22:46:00.000-07:00

...we are not dead, and neither is this project!! What with Sundance happening here in Utah right now, I've been a little busy. George has been busy at work too. He was able to take a small break this past weekend (right George?). I've been attending some of the screenings at the Sundance Film Festival as well as some of the "tag along" fests that happen at the same time. One fest that didn't tag along that I tried to attend and get involved in was the LDS Film Festival. Ever since first finding this festival almost 2 years ago, I've been wanting to submit something to it. I would have been able too this year, if I had heard about their 24 Hour Film Contest more than 3 days in advance. Anyways, that's all water under the bridge. If you're gonna be attending TromaDance 2006 (one of the tag alongs) on Saturday, January 28, I'll be there to check out some of the action going one. Check out Troma's website for more information.

As for the project, more of it has been nailed down. We are now looking at shooting a 5 minute long short to show off some visual effects that we can do. This 5 minute short may end up being a precursor to something further down the road, but nothing is set in stone just yet. Work continues on the design phase of the creature that will be showcased in the short. Here is an early sketch of the creature. Be watching for the first draft of the script to pop online soon.

Holidays can sometimes suck...

2006-01-03T00:53:00.000-07:00

Okay, now that the holidays are over with, we should be able to get back to working on stuff. I'll be posting some stuff in the next couple of days (hopefully) and things should start to progress.

Welcome...

2005-12-17T02:32:00.000-07:00

... to the first message in the blog for Vong Visuals. Vong Visuals is a teaming up of me, and my friends, to create Visual FX work for zero to low budget movies. We are currently working on our first VFX test, and you can follow along here. More info will be posted in the days to come.